Wisteria sinensis 'alba'

[Gerard]

2011wisteria072.jpg

P1110741.jpg

wisteria white 2015.jpg

After a repot in Dec 2014 I did not expext flowers this year.
Although flowers were fewer they have put on a reasonable display which is almost over now. It is amazing how much it changes in a week.
White wisterias are not very common so I am considering an air layer on the long horizontal branch, does anyone have experience with layering wisteria?

[wattynine]

Gerard, there is already a great thread on the subject, try this;
viewtopic.php?f=9&t=19040&p=196376&hili ... ia#p196376
Beautiful flowers by the way.
Hope it helps
Watty

[Elmar]

Nice tree Gerard,
sorry only just begin to do an air layer myself so not much use to you on that account... Do the leaves stay this size or do they reduce?

[Gerard]

Leaves grow to this size in one week, reduction methods would not be very effective.

[Elmar]

Leaves grow to this size in one week, reduction methods would not be very effective.

Wow, seriously?! That is amazing

[shibui]

Love those long white racemes Gerard.
Cuttings strike readily so layer should be straightforward. Seeing pictures like this makes me think I need a few more wisterias. I will have to slip pot the 'double dragon' cuttings I have to speed trunk development and maybe keep an eye out for a nice white sinensis to get some cuttings from.

An alternative leaf reduction method for wisteria is to cut the leaf stem above the first 2 or 4 lobes (leaflets?).

wisteria leaf prune 1.JPG

wisteria leaf prune 2.JPG

wisteria leaf prune 3.JPG

wisteria leaf prune 4.JPG

This won't alter the actual size of the leaflets but the first few are usually the smallest and cutting off 2/3 or more of each leaf will reduce overall canopy. As usual consider strong areas and weaker parts of the tree. Leave more leaf on the lower, weaker branches.
Note this wisteria not looking as healthy as it should. I decided not to repot which has turned out to be a mistake. Now very root bound and I'm having trouble keeping the water up to this one so far. I may still repot or maybe keep it sitting in a tray of water over summer.